


la vie en rose

by nctdoyoung



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Crack, Fluff, M/M, Mentioned Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun, Mentioned Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung, Mentioned Lee Donghyuk | Haechan, Mentioned Qian Kun, Multi, Mutual Pining, NCT Dream - Freeform, Not really though, high schoolers norenmin, i also don't know how to write summaries so sorry it sucks, idk how to tag sorry, jeno is a panicked gay, only for a short while
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-20
Updated: 2018-09-05
Packaged: 2019-06-13 11:55:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15364116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nctdoyoung/pseuds/nctdoyoung
Summary: Renjun is a regular at a small coffee shop where he's been going for ages. When Jeno starts going there as well they both take notice of each other and develop a strong curiosity (and crushes). The both of them are too scared to go up to each other, so, in a way, Jeno's clumsy nature has its benefits after all.





	1. I

Renjun was back at the coffee shop he went to after school every day. He couldn’t remember when he had started going, but he did know it was a big part of the reason he barely had any money. It was worth it, though. It had a great ambiance, the drinks were good, and he often did his homework there. 

But a month or two ago he started noticing someone. A boy, probably around his age, and he was stunning. This felt very cliche to Renjun, but damn it he didn’t care. Ever since he first saw the boy, he wondered why he had not seen him before. Was he new? There were no new kids at school… but then again, there were multiple schools in the area, so that didn’t say a lot. 

Maybe he just hadn’t noticed him before. That was very plausible. Renjun wasn’t known for being observant.

Renjun’s thoughts were thrown off track when he heard the bell hanging from the door signal someone had just walked in. He looked up and was shocked to see it was the boy he had just been thinking of. He smiled at Renjun when they made eye contact, sending the latter into a slight panic, and instead of smiling back - like most people would have done - he immediately scrambled for his phone to text his friends. They were kind of used to Renjun’s antics at this point. 

The first time Renjun had texted their group chat about the boy they had all been very confused. He had sent more incoherent words than actual sentences and it took them about 10 minutes to get a logical story out of Renjun. Even since, whenever Renjun sent something weirder than usual, they assumed it was because of the boy - coffee shop boy, as they had creatively named him.

Meanwhile, the boy - Jeno - had sat down in his usual spot. He liked sitting in the corner in the back. It was somewhat secluded, but still not fully cut off from the rest. As he put his bag down he took out his phone to text his friends. He too, had been updating them about this mysterious boy from the coffee shop he had recently discovered. In a way, he had discovered the coffee shop because of the boy. 

He was walking home one day and looked into the small cafe, seeing the boy near the window. It seemed like he was drawing, and he looked ethereal. The peaceful look on his face as his hand moved around the sketchbook was so alluring to Jeno that he walked in, ordered a coffee, and spent the rest of his afternoon there. He didn’t even look at the boy that much. He just sat down, did some homework, played some games and found he felt incredibly relaxed there. It was like his little hideaway. Jeno hadn’t even told his friends where this place was because he was scared that his friends would pop in while he and the other boy were there, and somehow embarrass Jeno in front of him. They had a pretty long record of doing that. Especially Donghyuck and Yoonoh.

Barely an hour had passed since Jeno sat down when his mother called. Something about chores he still had to do. It sucked, but he had to leave. He gathered all his stuff and walked towards the exit. As he passed the boy he looked at him briefly, hoping to catch his eye and give him another friendly smile, but he was too immersed in his sketchbook to notice anything around him. Until, of course, the bell signified the door opening and Renjun looked up just in time to see Jeno turn right out of the cafe, probably headed home.

 

The next day rolled around, and school ended faster than either of them expected. Renjun, like usual, got to the cafe before the boy. He was pleased to find his favourite spot by the window was empty and dumped his bag before going to the counter. He greeted the girl behind the counter, who didn’t even ask him for his order. He had been getting the same thing every day for the longest time, she knew exactly what his order was. He even got a free cookie. It wouldn’t surprise him if he was their best customer.

He looked up just in time to see it happen. The girl was walking towards him, his hot drink (and cookie) in her hand. The door opened and the boy awkwardly stumbled in, seemingly tripping over the welcome mat in front. He lunged forward and knocked into the girl’s side, sending the tray flying. Luckily there was nobody sitting at the table the cup landed on. Somehow it looked like it wasn’t even broken. The boy had gone beet red and started apologizing profusely. It seemed there was no end to it. No matter how much the barista told him it was fine, he kept tattering on in a soft voice. Kind of like he didn’t want to attract more attention to himself. Still, Renjun found it hard to look away. He felt bad for the kid, he seemed really apologetic. Renjun didn’t even care that his drink was now gone.

About 3 minutes later Renjun looked back up to see the boy helping the barista cleaning. Together they had taken care of the mess in no time. While the two of them were cleaning up Renjun overheard the boy asking who the drink was for. Renjun looked down just in time, because she pointed at him and he could feel the boy’s gaze on the top of his head. Not even five minutes later he felt a hand on his shoulder, scaring him and causing him to slam his sketchbook shut. 

He looked up to see who it was and was even more shocked to see it was the boy - with a cup in his hand. Said boy stood there, hand on Renjun’s shoulder, in silence for a bit before Renjun tapped the hand on his shoulder. “Are you alright?” he asked the boy. For some reason he seemed startled. “Yeah sorry,” he started, “I was just astounded by how handsome you are.” Not even a second after he had spoken his hast word his eyes went wide and he started rambling. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to blurt that out. I’m here with your drink. I don’t know if you saw earlier when the one you ordered got spilled, well you probably did it wasn’t very subtle, but I felt bad so here’s another drink. Well it’s not different like it’s the same order, it’s ‘another’ because the other one got spilled, obviously. I just wanted to bring it to you to apologize for causing the other one to spill and I wanted to ask if you maybe wanted to sit with me? I mean, you seem really cool and nice and stuff, so-”

The only reason the boy interrupted himself was because he hadn’t taken a breath since he started rambling and he was running out of air. He looked at the boy sitting in front of him and realized that first of all, Jeno hadn’t looked at him since he touched his hand, and second of all, his eyes were blown wide and he was red - possibly even redder than Jeno when he bumped into the girl earlier. It took him a while to respond, but when he realized what the boy had just asked him he nodded and gave a simple “Sure”

They both grabbed some of Renjun’s stuff, which he had spread out over the table, and headed to the spot in the back. As expected neither of them got any work done, but they found it was surprisingly to talk to each other. They talked about whatever. How Jeno has cats but is allergic, how Renjun moved here a few years ago, how they both love dancing. Time flew by and before they knew they had to go home. It was a school night, after all. They bid each other goodbye and said something in passing about how they’d see each other again soon at the cafe.

When they got home, both of them realized they forgot one thing. They never asked for a name. Naturally, they both felt pretty stupid. They basically talked about their life stories but left out a fairly big part. They figured they’d just ask the next day.

And as they woke up, the first thing they both thought of was talking to each other again. School couldn’t have gone by slower before they were both on their way to the coffee shop. For a change, Jeno got there first. He looked around and didn’t see the boy and his first thought was that he didn’t come because he didn’t like him. He was always there before him, after all, and now he wasn’t. Jeno felt like a sulky child. He sat down by the window, this time. Where the boy would always sit.  
He spent about 10 minutes going through all the possibilities of why the boy wasn’t there before he arrived. As the options got weirder and less realistic, his thoughts got interrupted by the bell. Jeno didn’t look up, which made the fact that someone sat down right beside him even more shocking. He jumped slightly as the person next to him greeted him in a chirpy voice, plopping down on the seat.

When Jeno looked up he was greeted by the boy’s bright smile. “I’m Renjun,” the boy said with a laugh, holding out his hand. Jeno grabbed it and offered back a smile as he said “I’m Jeno, nice to officially meet you.”


	2. II

“I can’t believe we both forgot to ask each other for a name,” Renjun giggled. _Cute_ was the first thing Jeno thought upon hearing the airy sound. Instead of saying that out loud (like he had almost done a few times the day before), he opted for “Yeah, I know. I felt so dumb when I realized,” which elicited another giggle from the other boy. Jeno could already foresee his demise if he kept giggling like that.

He kept discovering more endearing things about the boy. From what Renjun had disclosed about himself, he was an absolute sweetheart, and Jeno could tell he was probably not even mentioning a lot of good things and being humble about everything. All Jeno could think about was what Renjun would think of him. A frown started forming on his forehead and before he even realized it himself, Renjun had noticed it. “Hey, are you alright? What’s wrong?”

Jeno hadn’t realized he got lost in his thoughts and once again turned red out of embarrassment. “Oh I’m so sorry I totally zoned out, I didn’t realize. Sorry about that,” he chuckled nervously. _I just keep humiliating myself in front of him, even Hyuck wouldn’t embarrass me this much._ “It’s fine, don’t worry about that! I just hope nothing’s wrong. I didn’t say something that upset you, right?”

And there he went again. He barely knew the boy and he was already so worried about him. Jeno was almost convinced he was an angel.

“No no of course not! I just have the tendency to daydream or zone out. Is that weird? It probably is, isn’t it? Wait, don’t answer that. I mean you can if you want to. I’m not trying to stop you from doing anything, I just meant, well I’m not sure what I meant, honestly. Oh god, I’m starting to ramble again, I’m so sorry. I keep saying sorry, don’t I? Sorry ab-” Jeno’s word vomit was interrupted by Renjun placing his hand on Jeno’s and speaking a soft “Calm down, Jeno”

And somehow, that’s what happened. Jeno had stopped mid-sentence, and that’s exactly where he left it. He suddenly felt much more relaxed, and all because of the three most simple words.

But then he realized Renjun’s hand was still on top of his, and his eyes widened. Within a second he had moved his hand from on the seat to on his lap, and his face turned a light shade of pink. And although it only lasted a split second, he didn’t miss the flash of hurt that passed through Renjun’s eyes. Jeno’s gaze immediately softened. His eyes went from panicked to apologetic and without thinking he reached out and grabbed Renjun’s hand. He didn’t just place his own on top, no he held Renjun’s hand and squeezed it a bit. It was Renjun who then let go slightly and maneuvered their hands so that their fingers were intertwined. Naturally, Jeno’s face turned a deeper shade of pink. Renjun decided then and there that pink was now his favourite colour.

When Jeno looked up from their hands and back into Renjun’s eyes, he noticed to latter had a proud grin on his face. Jeno had no idea what was going on. He had never held anyone’s hand before - let alone _grabbed_ their hand. (The time he grabbed Donghyuck’s hand to prevent him from almost getting hit by a bus doesn’t count. Neither does the time he did it for Yoonoh. They really had to learn to look around before crossing a road.)

If Jeno were to ever tell Donghyuck that he had grabbed a boy’s hand, especially since he has a crush on said boy, oh he would never hear the end of it. Donghyuck would be sure to get Yoonoh in on the teasing and Jeno would have to terminate his friendships with the two of them on the spot. Which is why he promised himself he wouldn’t mention it to the two of them. He might just talk to Dongyoung if he needed to tell someone about it. He always liked talking to Dongyoung, he was very understanding and comforting to talk to. He wasn’t his real brother, but at times it almost felt like it with how close they were. Jeno wouldn’t trade him for the world.

“So now that I have your name, can I also get your number? I have really enjoyed talking to you and I was hoping we could hang out,” Renjun once again shook Jeno out of his thoughts. This seemed to be a reoccurring theme. Only this time he hadn’t noticed Jeno zoning out, and the latter was really happy about that because he was scared that if he embarrassed himself in front of Renjun one more time today, his face would never return to its original colour.

“Yeah, of course! I’ve had a really good time, too. I forgot my phone today, so I can put my number in yours, if that’s alright.”

Renjun responded by smiling, nodding and handing him his phone. When Jeno handed the phone back, Renjun noticed he had saved himself under ‘cafe cutie’. Once again, he giggled. “I like the name. It suits you,” effectively making Jeno blush once more.

 

When Renjun got home later that day, he started pondering if he should text Jeno yet. Was it too early? Those teen movies always had a dumb rule about waiting a certain amount of time. But then again, those rules _are_ dumb.

Still, Renjun decided he would at least wait until the next day. They had left each other less than an hour ago, anyway. He figured he would probably seem overly eager. He somewhat was, though. He really liked talking to Jeno and he had had a great time both instances they talked.

And therefore he changed his mind and texted Jeno anyway.

**New message to: cafe cutie**

**_Renjun:_ ** _hi jeno, this is renjun! did you get home safe?_

 **_Cafe cutie:_ ** _sorry, what? who?_

 **_Renjun:_ ** _renjun, from the cafe? you gave me your number earlier_

Renjun was thoroughly confused. Had he gotten the wrong number? Jeno didn’t seem like the type to give a wrong number… had he not actually enjoyed talking to Renjun?

**_New message from: cafe cutie_ **

**_Cafe cutie:_ ** _i‘m sorry dude, this isn’t jeno_

 **_Cafe cutie:_ ** _my name is jaemin_

 **_Cafe cutie:_ ** _and I don’t know any renjun_

 **_Cafe cutie:_ ** _pretty name, though_

Renjun couldn’t believe it. He wasn’t sure what to feel or think about the entire situation. More than anything he was upset. Also confused because a stranger just complimented him on his name.

 **_Renjun:_ ** _thanks…?_

 **_Renjun:_ ** _so is jaemin_

 **_Renjun:_ ** _sorry to have bothered you, jaemin_

Renjun turned his phone screen off and threw it onto his bed. He was even more confused when his phone buzzed not a second after it hit the duvet, and he noticed it was another message from Jaemin. He decided he should probably change the contact name, if he was going to keep getting messages from this guy. After all, he didn’t know him from any cafe, and he had no idea if he was cute. He didn’t even know how old he was.

 **_Jaemin..?:_ ** _that’s quite alright_

 **_Jaemin..?:_ ** _sorry you got given a wrong number_

 **_Jaemin..?:_ ** _there’s been a lot of sorry’s in this conversation already, haven’t there?_

 **_Renjun:_ ** _yeah, i guess_

 **_Renjun:_ ** _not to be rude or anything, but im kind of lost as to why you’re still talking to me, you have no idea who i am_

 **_Jaemin..?:_ ** _then tell me about yourself_

 **_Jaemin..?:_ ** _wait i’ll go first. my name is na jaemin, i’m 17 and im an only child. i enjoy dancing and making music._

He’s only 17? Renjun figured this could have gone much worse. He seemed kind of nice, actually. And they had a few similar interests. Talking couldn’t hurt, right?

 **_Renjun:_ ** _well nice to meet you, jaemin_

 **_Renjun:_ ** _my name is huang renjun, im 18 and i’m from china. i love art and singing, dancing as well sometimes._

 **_Jaemin..?:_ ** _nice to meet you too, renjun_

This was all very strange to Renjun. He figured the best thing he could do was call one of his friends to talk about everything that had happened the past few days. The first person that he thought of was Kun. He usually knew what to say. He was a bit older but that didn’t seem to bother either of them. They were still great friends. Almost brotherly, honestly. Renjun had a few close friends who were like brothers to him.

Meanwhile there was another boy confused about texts. Only this boy wasn’t confused about texts he was getting, he was confused about texts he wasn’t getting. Jeno realized there was a large chance Renjun wouldn’t text the same day. But that didn’t stop him from wanting him to. And as his thoughts were racing around at incredible speeds he thought of something. He hadn’t double checked the number he put in Renjun’s phone. Most people wouldn’t, but Jeno had a habit of making typos and he had been shaking slightly while filling in the contact information, which enlarged his chances of typing it wrong. So perhaps he should have double checked.

Now his thoughts were going ten times as fast, he had ten times more worries, but most of all he felt bad. What if he had gotten it wrong? What if Renjun tried texting him, only to text someone else? What if he thought Jeno had done it on purpose? What if he was mad at him? What if, what if, what if-

The worst part was that it was Friday. The coffee shop was closed over the weekend, meaning Jeno couldn’t just pop in the next day, hoping to find Renjun there and clear things up. He had to wait until Monday, after school. And that left so much time for Renjun to start getting mad, or annoyed, or anything bad at him.

The thought that Renjun just hadn’t texted him yet didn’t cross Jeno’s mind one time, and he fell asleep that night with furrowed brows, worried he had messed this up really bad.

Renjun, on the other hand, fell asleep with a message from Jaemin. He hadn’t even gotten a chance to talk to Kun because Jaemin kept texting him. And surprisingly enough, Renjun found himself incredibly compelled to answer every time. Even more surprisingly, he found himself enjoying talking to this guy. So that night, Renjun fell asleep with a sweet _“goodnight, renjun. sleep well”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not beta'd. hmu on twitter @dongscafes, i have a cc so feel free to drop me smth like constructive criticism or maybe a prompt and i might write it


	3. III

Saturday. No cafe. No Renjun. No Jeno.

 

It was a drag for the both of them. They wanted to talk to each other again. They wanted to see each other again. And secretly, they wanted to hold hands again.

 

Jeno spent the day browsing. He went from app to app. Opening twitter, to close it right after and go to instagram instead. It wasn’t like he actually did anything on the apps, he was just trying to keep busy. He texted the group chat a bit, but nothing important was said.

 

And so his day went by. Agonizingly slow, and boring. It didn’t help that he had woken up really early due to his neighbour drilling and hammering away right outside his window at 8 am. __On a Saturday__ , for heaven’s sake. What the fuck?

 

Renjun’s day wasn’t all bad.

 

He woke up around 10, the sun softly illuminating his room through the gaps in between his curtains.

As he walked towards the kitchen, softly padding along the hallway, his phone buzzed in his hand.

 

**_**_New message from: nana_ ** _ **

**_**** _ **

**_**_Nana:_ ** _ ** __good morning, are you awake yet?_ _

__

Oh right, he had changed the contact name. A little while after they had started talking Jaemin mentioned he had a nickname. Renjun thought it was cute, so he changed his name. It seemed a bit nicer than what he had before.

 

**_**_Renjun:_ ** _ ** __i am, morning!_ _

__

For some reason, Renjun had felt his lips curve up upon seeing the message from Jaemin. He barely knew him, hell he didn’t even know what the boy looked like, but it felt like he had been friends with him for years when they talked. Were they even friends? Could you call them that? Did it matter? Renjun shrugged it off. Whatever.

 

**_**_Nana_ ** _ ** __: did you sleep well?_ _

**_**_Renjun:_ ** _ ** __not too bad, you?_ _

**_**_Nana:_ ** _ ** __really good, actually_ _

**_**_Nana:_ ** _ ** __better than i have in weeks_ _

**_**_Renjun:_ ** _ ** __oh im glad to hear that!!_ _

**_**_Renjun:_ ** _ ** __i hope it lasts!_ _

**_**_Nana:_ ** _ ** __yeah me too_ _

**_**_Nana:_ ** _ ** __i don’t even know what caused it_ _

**_**_Nana:_ ** _ ** __i mean i didn’t do anything special to help me sleep or anything_ _

 

But honestly, Jaemin was pretty sure about why he slept soundly. Because of Renjun. He knew talking to him made him happy, and calm. What he didn’t know, was __why__. He didn’t know __how__. How could this boy he didn’t actually really know, be the reason he finally got a good night sleep? Whatever the reason, he was thankful for it.

 

 

Sunday. Once again, no cafe. No Jeno. No Renjun.

More Jaemin.

 

Renjun had texted him until roughly 2 in the morning. He didn’t realize the time until his mother came into his room, whisper-yelling about the time, and the fact that he was not yet asleep.

That didn’t stop him from continuing to text Jaemin for another thirty minutes, until his eyes were basically closing on their own, forcing him to say goodnight.

 

His mother, being slightly petty, woke him at 9 am. She didn’t really have a reason besides the fact that Renjun had been awake so late and she felt he needed to learn not to do that. So she woke him, made sure he was up and dressed half an hour later, gave him something to eat, and took him to the market. The loud, busy, annoying market.

 

Renjun was not exactly pleased, but he was too tired to argue with her about it, he couldn’t be bothered. Besides, he was still able to talk to Jaemin so he was quite alright.

Perhaps texting in such a busy place wasn’t Renjun’s best idea, but whatever.

 

Every ten steps or so he’d bump into someone. At least half of them were old ladies. Now that he thought about it, at least half of the people here were old ladies. And while on the topic of ladies - he had lost his mother. She was nowhere to be seen. He must have gotten separated from her somewhere between the fifth and eighth collision.

 

Renjun quickly found a spot in between two fish stands - not the best smelling place, but certainly the easiest - and got out of the crowd. He looked back down at his phone to see a new message from Jaemin.

 

**_**_Nana:_ ** _ ** __yeah im at the market rn with my friend_ _

**_**_Nana:_ ** _ ** __his mom wanted him to pick up some fish and for some reason he nominated me to come with_ _

**_**_Nana:_ ** _ ** __but god damn i have not been in a place this busy and loud since i went to the exo concert_ _

__

Wait, market? A loud, busy market with fish? Renjun doubted it, but holy shit, what if they were at the same place? Yeah, what if? They wouldn’t recognize each other, they still hadn’t sent each other pictures. Still, Renjun asked.

 

**_**_Renjun:_ ** _ ** __wait im at a market rn too_ _

**_**_Renjun:_ ** _ ** __and its definitely loud and busy_ _

**_**_Renjun:_ ** _ ** __what market are you at?_ _

__

It couldn’t possibly be the same one, right? What were the chances. They knew they lived in the same city, but it was a large place, and there had to be multiple markets on Sunday morning. Definitely.

 

**_**_Nana:_ ** _ ** __uhh wait idk i’ll ask, one sec_ _

**_**_Nana:_ ** _ ** __its called the super sunny sunday morning market_ _

**_**_Nana:_ ** _ ** __what kind of name is that_ _

__

Wait a second… Renjun looked up from his phone and his gaze immediately fell on a banner across from him. “Super Sunny Sunday Morning Market! 8 am - 12 pm. Every Sunday!”

 

Holy shit.

 

**_**_Renjun:_ ** _ ** __what the fuck_ _

**_**_Nana:_ ** _ ** __ikr_ _

**_**_Renjun:_ ** _ ** __no not the name_ _

**_**_Renjun:_ ** _ ** __well kinda the name_ _

**_**_Renjun:_ ** _ ** __but what i meant is im at the same market_ _

**_**_Nana:_ ** _ ** __what the fuck_ _

**_**_Renjun:_ ** _ ** __wait you said you were getting fish, right?_ _

**_**_Nana:_ ** _ ** __uhh yeah, why is that relevant?_ _

**_**_Renjun:_ ** _ ** __are you by the fish? im there_ _

**_**_Nana:_ ** _ ** __we’re getting close, i can smell it already_ _

**_**_Renjun:_ ** _ ** __wanna hang out later?_ _

**_**_Nana:_ ** _ ** __what?_ _

**_**_Renjun:_ ** _ ** __we’re literally in the same place, wanna hang out after your friend gets the fish?_ _

**_**_Renjun:_ ** _ ** __and after i let my mother know im still alive and we just got separated_ _

**_**_Nana:_ ** _ ** __oh shit, yeah definitely_ _

**_**_Nana:_ ** _ ** __how will we find each other tho?_ _

**_**_Nana:_ ** _ ** __like idk what you look like_ _

**_**_Renjun:_ ** _ ** __… we send pictures of ourselves?_ _

**_**_Nana:_ ** _ ** __…. good idea_ _

__

Once again, Renjun felt he had landed in a really weird situation. Only now was it starting to dawn on him that Jaemin could just as well be some random old creep. He shivered just thinking about it. At least he was in a public place - almost too public with the amount of people present - so if he was a creep, there were plenty of people to come to Renjun’s rescue.

 

While Renjun started mapping out the place in preparation of a possible escape, Jaemin was forcing his friend Mark to take a selfie with him that he could send to Renjun. And of course it had to be in front of a stand that had a bright red shirt with a maple leaf on it.

 

The picture captured the essence of the moment very well. Mark was looking at Jaemin with a tired look on his face, a single eyebrow raised. Jaemin was donning his brightest smile. What really finished it, though, was the shocked, almost scared, expression on the face of the stand owner. Both eyes and mouth open wide, as if in the middle of a yelp, looking straight into the camera. And of course the shirt, right behind Mark’s head, smack centre of the picture.

 

Truly a masterpiece. Jaemin considered himself an artist, at this point.

 

So he sent it to Renjun, saying something about his friend being Canadian, and him grabbing the chance to take a picture with him and the shirt. And that he wouldn’t buy the shirt no matter how much Jaemin insisted. Nor would he let Jaemin buy it for him. He quite literally had to drag him away from the stand by his hoodie, causing a lot of confused looks to be shot their way. They were used to those, though. They did some weird stuff, often not even on purpose. They just had the tendency to do things before thinking them out.

 

One time their friend Jisung started dancing in the middle of an art gallery during a school trip because someone’s phone was ringing and it was his favourite song.

 

So Mark dragging Jaemin along was honestly pretty normal. For them, at least.

 

The fish stench was getting worse, and Jaemin knew he was getting closer and closer to Renjun. Renjun, who had not yet sent a picture of himself.

 

Renjun, who was staring at his phone, shocked at the fact that Jaemin was one of the two most beautiful boys he had ever seen. (The other one being Jeno)

 

Renjun, who realized he hadn’t sent a picture but didn’t want to take a selfie in front of a bunch of strangers, so instead opting to send one from the day before.

 

He sent it with a comment about how he didn’t feel like taking a picture of himself while right next to a bunch of fish, “so here’s this from yesterday”

 

This time it was Jaemin’s turn to be shocked. This guy wasn’t just cute, he was __cute__. Like, __really cute__. He turned to Mark looking flustered. This kind of confused the elder, seeing as Jaemin was not the type to get flustered easily. Not even by cute boys. Upon taking a look at the screen of Jaemin’s phone he fully understood, though.

 

By the time Jaemin looked up from his phone when Mark let go of the arm he was using to guide the younger boy, they had arrived at the source of the horrible smell. It was so busy he had a pretty hard time spotting Renjun. Better yet, he couldn’t see a thing besides middle aged couples and a __lot__  of fish. That’s also why he yelled pretty loud, and surprisingly high pitched, when he turned around and was met with the exact person he had been looking for. Jaemin opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Mark’s obnoxious laugh. This, in turn, caused Renjun to break into a fit of giggles. Well, it was partially because of Mark’s laugh, but he was mainly laughing about Jaemin’s yelp. Jaemin then let out a small chuckle as well. He couldn’t help it, Renjun just had an infectious laugh. And he was really cute.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not beta'd. sorry this took a while, i've been a bit busy with school. i'll try to update more regularly. feel free to hmu on twitter @dongscafes if you have any questions or anything, or drop me a cc


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